The Continuity Equation

(One-dimensional steady flow)

Consider a fluid flowing through a stream tube as shown below. During a

time-interval (dt) a fluid mass enters at section (1). Based on the mass
conservation principle, the mass of fluid in the stream-tube remains
unchanged with time. This means that.

Mass entering at section (1) = Mass leaving at section (2)

𝜌1 . 𝐴1 . 𝑑𝑠1 = 𝜌2 . 𝐴2 . 𝑑𝑠2

Dividing both sides of the equation by (dt) gives:

ds 2
A1, v 2 , 2
𝑑𝑠1 𝑑𝑠2
𝜌1 . 𝐴1 . = 𝜌2 . 𝐴2 . 2
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝜌1 . 𝐴1 . 𝑉1 = 𝜌2 . 𝐴2 . 𝑉2
ds1
𝑚̇ = 𝜌. 𝐴. 𝑉 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑡

𝑘𝑔
𝑚̇ = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 ( )
𝑆𝑒𝑐
A1, v1, 1
1

For a constant density fluid (incompressible flow) the equation is reduced

to:

𝐴. 𝑉 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑡

𝑄 = 𝐴. 𝑉 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑡

𝑄 = 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 (𝑚3 ⁄𝑠)

1
For Non-uniform velocity distribution, the continuity equation is written in
terms of the mean velocity V at any section.

V.A =  dA
A

Where

𝑉 = 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.

𝑣 = 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒.

2
Example
Q2 = ? Q3 = ?
Q1 = ? v2 = 2 m / s D v 3 = 1.5 m / s
v1 = ? d2 = 75 mm d3 = ?
d1 = 50 mm

A B C

Q4 = 0.5Q3 = ?
v4 = ?
E d4 = 30 mm

Find the unknowns in the sketch above.

Solution
𝜋
𝑄2 = 𝐴2 . 𝑉2 = (0.075)2 ∗ 2
4
𝑄2 == 8.836 ∗ 10−3 𝑚3 /𝑠

water is incompressible & Pipes AB and BC are connected in Series

therefore,

𝑄1 = 𝑄2

𝑄1 8.836 ∗ 10−3 ∗ 4
𝑉1 = = = 4.5 𝑚⁄𝑠
𝐴1 𝜋(0.05)2

Pipes CD and CE are connected in parallel

𝑄2 = 𝑄3 + 𝑄4 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑄4 = 0.5𝑄3

𝑄2 = 1.5𝑄3

𝑄2
𝑄3 = = 5.891 ∗ 10−3 𝑚3 /𝑠
1.5
𝑄4 = 0.5𝑄3 = 2.945 ∗ 10−3 𝑚3 /𝑠
3
 𝑄3 ∗ 4 5.891 ∗ 10−3 ∗ 4
𝑑3 = √ =√ = 71𝑚𝑚
𝜋 ∗ 𝑉3 𝜋 ∗ 1.5
𝑄4 2.945 ∗ 10−3 ∗ 4
𝑉4 = = = 4.166 𝑚/𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝐴4 𝜋(0.03)2

Example
A manifold pipe of 75 mm diameter has four openings in its walls spaced
equally along the pipe and is closed at downstream end. If the discharge
from each opening is 15 L/sec, what are the mean velocities in the pipe
A B C
between the openings?

75 mmd

Solution

15 L/Sec 15 L/Sec 15 L/Sec 15 L/Sec

𝑄𝑇 = ∑ 𝑄

𝑄𝑇 = 4 ∗ 15 ∗ 10−3 = 0.06 𝑚3 /𝑠

𝑄𝐴 = 𝑄𝑇 − 15 ∗ 10−3 = 0.045 𝑚3 /𝑠
𝑄𝐴 0.045
𝑉𝐴 = =𝜋 = 10.186 𝑚/𝑠
𝐴 (0.075)2
4
𝑄𝐵 = 𝑄𝐴 − 15 ∗ 10−3 = 0.03 𝑚3 /𝑠
𝑄𝐵 0.03
𝑉𝐵 = =𝜋 = 6.79 𝑚/𝑠
𝐴 (0.075)2
4
𝑄𝐶 0.015
𝑉𝐶 = =𝜋 = 3.395 𝑚/𝑠
𝐴 (0.075)2
4
4
Euler's equation (One-dimensional steady flow)
Consider the forces acting on the cylindrical element shown below. By
applying Newton's law.
2
p+dp
v+dv
ds

dz

p
v
dw
z

∑ 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 ∗ 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝑑𝑤
𝑝𝑑𝐴 − (𝑝 + 𝑑𝑝)𝑑𝐴 − 𝑑𝑤 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 = ∗𝑎
𝑔

Where,

a is the acceleration,

𝑑𝑧
𝑑𝑤 = 𝜌. 𝑔𝑑𝐴𝑑𝑠 , 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 =
𝑑𝑠
𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝑣
𝑎= = ∗ =𝑉
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑠
Thus

𝑑𝑧 𝑑𝑣
−𝑑𝑝𝑑𝐴 − 𝜌. 𝑔𝑑𝐴𝑑𝑠 = 𝜌𝑑𝐴𝑑𝑠 ∗ 𝑉
𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝑠

5
 𝑑𝑝𝑑𝐴 + 𝜌. 𝑔𝑑𝐴𝑑𝑧 + 𝜌𝑑𝐴 ∗ 𝑉𝑑𝑉 = 0

𝑑𝑝
+ 𝑔𝑑𝑧 + 𝑉𝑑𝑉 = 0 …….. (Euler's equation for one dimensional flow)
𝜌

Dividing by (g)
𝑑𝑝 𝑉𝑑𝑉
+ 𝑑𝑧 + =0
𝜌𝑔 𝑔
𝑑𝑝 𝑉2
+ 𝑑𝑧 + 𝑑 =0
𝜌𝑔 2𝑔
For an incompressible fluid (𝜌𝑔 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡), and rearrangement gives:
𝑝 𝑉2
𝑑 ( ) + 𝑑𝑧 + 𝑑 ( ) = 0
𝜌𝑔 2𝑔
𝑝 𝑉2
𝑑( +𝑧+ ) = 0
𝜌𝑔 2𝑔
Integration between any two points (1) and (2) gives,
𝑝1 𝑉12 𝑝2 𝑉22
+ + 𝑧1 = + + 𝑧2 = 𝐻
𝜌𝑔 2𝑔 𝜌𝑔 2𝑔
Where
H is Bernoulli's constant, and the equation is called Bernoulli's equation.

𝑃
= 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑟 (𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑)[𝑚]
𝜌𝑔

𝑉2
= 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑟 (𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑)[𝑚]
2𝑔
𝑧 = 𝑃𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑟 (𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑)[𝑚]